CUPE Alberta was quick off the mark with a stinging critique of Kleins proposal to fund surgery in private hospitals.
“If Klein is so worried about the suffering of Albertans,” asked Terry Mutton, president of CUPE Alberta, “why doesnt he reopen the hospitals and hospital beds he closed?”
“The waiting lists and the loss of doctors, nurses and skilled health care support staff are the direct result of Kleins health care cuts,” he said. “He lied to us 1994 when he promised that his cuts wouldnt hurt health care. Why would we believe him now?”
CUPE has called on the Alberta government to ban private hospitals and instead to reopen beds and hospitals that have been closed and hire back the thousands of health care workers who have lost their jobs.